Carew and Company Ltd.The Carew and Company Limited is the largest sugar millof Bangladesh, established by private industrialists in 1935at Darshana, Chuadanga and become nationalized in1973. This industry is an enterprise of Bangladesh Sugar &Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) under Ministry ofIndustries. The distillery of Carew and Company has anyearly production capacity of 2.8-3 million proof liter ofspirit from molasses. At present Carew and Company isthe only leading company of alcoholic beverages sincethe year of 1938 in Bangladesh.

Introduction

One of the nature’s most primitive and fundamentalprocess is fermentation, a metabolic process in which anorganism converts a carbohydrate into an alcohol andCO2 as metabolic wastes. Fermentation of ethyl alcoholfrom molasses is widely used to produce alcoholicbeverages all over the world. In Bangladesh, Carew andCompany utilizes this process for producing ethyl alcoholand they used this alcohol for producing various types ofdistilled alcoholic beverages by fractional distillation,separation of different liquids based on boiling point.

Foreign Liquor Products

OVERVIEW OF FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY AND DISTILLED BEVERAGES AT CAREW AND COMPANY BANGLADESH LIMITED

Zulkar NainDepartment of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering

Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh

ConclusionFermentation technology is a very vibrant and fastgrowing area of biotechnology. Carew and Company usethis technology to manufacture alcoholic beveragesthrough fermentation of molasses. They are alsointended to produce biofertilizer, fish feed, and bottle. Byovercoming problems (i.e., waste management, manualhandling), there would be no competitor in theproduction of alcoholic beverages in Bangladesh.

Recommendations

Following recommendations are suggested for the

improvement or the better output:

Development of superior microbial strain.

Taste and flavor improvement with quality.

Automation to avoid unproductive time.

Proper waste disposal and effluent treatment.

Future Plans

Besides alcoholic beverages, sugar and biofertilizer,

Darshana distilleries has following future plans:

• Production of poultry and fish feed from our yeast

biomass.

• Reduction of ageing time without harming taste and

flavor (i.e., 6 months instead of 6 years)

• Manufacture of bottle for their own product to

upgrade quality and save money.

• Novel category beverage production for globalizing

(i.e., Orange Crackao).

Filling the Pitching Vat

The next task after yeast culture is to fill the pitching vat.Media brix from YP-III is poured into pitch vat andupgraded to 9.0 brix by the addition of wort. Then 2/4liters of H2SO4, 2/4 kg of urea and 1/2 kg of T.S.P is addedto the pitch vat.

Fermentation Process

For fermentation process, 3500 gallons of yeast mediafrom pitching vat is taken into one fermentation vat andfilled up with wort. For one single fermentation vat, total10-12 kg of urea is added by three times and total 8-10liters of H2SO4 added by two times. Time needed forfermentation is about to 24-30 hours. Alcohol or spirit isproduced by the fermentation process by the followingway:

𝑪𝟏𝟐𝑯𝟐𝟐𝑶𝟏𝟏

𝑯𝒚𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒔𝑪𝟔𝑯𝟏𝟐𝑶𝟔 + 𝑪𝟔𝑯𝟏𝟐𝑶𝟔

𝑪𝟔𝑯𝟏𝟐𝑶𝟔

𝒁𝒚𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒆𝟐𝑪𝟐𝑯𝟓𝑶𝑯+ 𝟐𝑪𝑶𝟐 ↑

As soon as the fermentation in a fermentation vat iscompleted, it is subjected to fractional distillation bywhich spirit is isolated. The whole process is very longand it takes about 110-120 hours.

Grading of SpiritThere are four types of spirit produced by the distillationat Darshana distilleries - Rectified Spirit (RS, used toproduce blended whiskey), Denatured Spirit (DS, used assolvent and fuel), Country Spirit (CS), and Extra NeutralAlcohol (ENA, used in cosmetic, perfumeries and whitealcohol).

At present, Carew and Company produces nine brand offoreign liquor products which are all distilled alcoholicbeverages with 42.76% alcohol contents or 75 proof.Following seven brands are well-known and rest two,Orange Crackao and Cherry Brandy, are just recent upcomings, hence they are not provided in the followingtable.

BRAND COMPOSITION ALCOHOL

Gold Riband Gin ENA + DH2O + Gin Flavor (from IFF) 42.76%

Yellow Label Malted Whisky ENA + DH2O + Malt + YLMW Flavor + Caramel 42.76%

Tsarina Vodka RS + DH2O 42.76%

Fine Brandy RS + DH2O + Brandy Flavor + Caramel 42.76%

Imperial Whisky RS + DH2O + Whisky Flavor + Caramel 42.76%

Old Rum CS + DH2O + Matured in Wooden Vat + Caramel 42.76%

Rosa Rum CS + DH2O + Matured in Wooden Vat + Caramel 42.76%

Figure: (E) Nine brands including Orange Crackao and Cherry Brandy

Table: Beverages Produced by Carew and Company Ltd.

Alcohol consumption in Bangladesh (adult per capita)

Fermentation Process

The overall fermentation process carried out in Darshana

distilleries are described briefly.

Sterilization of Wort

First 14-14.5 brix of wort poured into the plant (about 500liters). Then 500 gram of T.S.P. and 1 liter of H2SO4 areadded to the wort and heated it until it reaches at thetemperature of 110-115⁰C. Finally, sterilized wort allowedto cool down so that it can be used in Yeast Plant.

Yeast Culture within Yeast Plant

Before using, yeast must be cultured through the seriesof Yeast Plants (YP). YP-I: 10 liters of yeast culture + 100 liters of sterilized

diluted molasses + 500gm urea + 1-2gm penicillin -incubate for 12 hours.

YP-II: Yeast from Plant-I + 500gm of urea + 2gmpenicillin - incubate for 8-10 hours.

YP-III: Yeasts from Plant II + 1kg of urea + 3gm penicillin- the amount of media in YP-III is 2500 liters.

Bangladesh PerspectiveAccording to the 2003 World Health Survey (total samplesize n = 282; males n = 275 and females n = 7), the meanvalue (in grams) of pure alcohol consumed per dayamong drinkers was 4.9 (total), 4.9 (males) and 4.1(females). In Bangladesh, statistically recorded adult percapita alcohol consumption (age 15+) is provided below.

AcknowledgementThis poster-work is created based on an industrial visit to Carew and Company Ltdfrom Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Islamic University.Thanks to my honorable teachers and the authority of Darshana distilleries.

ReferencesDubey, R. C. (1993) A Text Book of Biotechnology. 4th Edition. Chapter 17: pp. 387-401.S. Chand & Company. ISBN: 81-219-2608-4.World Health Organization (2003) Global Status Report on Alcohol. Web:http://who.int/substance_abuse/publications/en/bangladesh.pdf.Figure: (C) Pitching vats; (D) ENA plants

Figure: (A) Stock Solution; (B) Microphotograph of S. cerevisiae

Contact Zulkar Nain: zlkr.bd@gmail.com || http://apespages.wordpress.com

CAREW & COMPANYISLAMIC UNIVERSITY